This really concerns me. It’s hard enough as it is to get sources to trust me sometimes, particularly when the source is a hacker. Now the DOJ has just fueled distrust by saying FBI agents can pose as journalists.

Alan Neuhauser reports:

FBI agents may impersonate journalists while conducting undercover investigations, and an agent who posed as an editor with the Associated Press during a 2007 investigation did not violate agency policies, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found in a report released Thursday.

The conclusion sparked consternation across social media by journalists, civil rights groups and some legal experts, who have argued that the practice – by its very existence – threatens to heighten public mistrust of reporters, damage journalists’ credibility and have a chilling effect on sources and whistleblowers who may fear that their contacts in the media are actually undercover agents.